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Chapter 05
At the same time.
Yeongwon collapsed inside a cave about three ri (3 km) away from where she had run into the grim reaper, gasping desperately for breath.
“Huff! Huff! I—I think… huff! We’re far enough! Let’s… huff! Let’s rest here!”
Sorae wiped the sweat from her flushed face—red from frantic running—and looked at Yeongwon in confusion.
“My lady, what on earth is going on?”
When the thick fog suddenly swallowed her whole, Sorae had lost consciousness for a moment.
Only after waking did she notice that Yeongwon was gone.
Panicked, she had searched wildly for her mistress, and after roughly half an hour, she finally found Yeongwon collapsed on the mountainside.
It was when Sorae shook the limp Yeongwon and shouted “My lady!” that it happened.
Before she could shout a second time, Yeongwon jolted awake in terror.
Eyes darting around as if she had seen a ghost, she sprang up and grabbed Sorae’s arm.
Then she barreled blindly through the forest, following nothing but the narrow paths carved by wild animals.
They ran like that for about one hour.
“Sorae, did you not see it?”
With a strange mix of fear and anxiety, Yeongwon kept checking the cave entrance, then suddenly grabbed Sorae’s wrist tightly and asked with a trembling voice.
“See what?”
“A ghost.”
Yeongwon still felt the cold dread creeping up her neck, chills prickling over her entire body.
The vivid terror she felt facing that grim reaper was carved into her bones—tormenting her.
“A… a ghost? My lady, is this about what I said earlier? That was a joke!”
“A… joke? Then you’re saying you truly saw nothing?”
“My lady, please calm down. Did you… have a nightmare?”
Yeongwon finally released Sorae’s wrist—she had been squeezing it so hard that it hurt—after seeing Sorae’s bewildered face and repeated confusion.
Her gaze drifted toward the dark forest outside the cave, half her soul seemingly gone.
So I’m the only one who saw them in that fog?
Those ghosts… and that terrifyingly beautiful grim reaper?
Or… was it a dream?
Was I hallucinating?
—Wait.
Yeongwon’s body flinched.
Thinking of the grim reaper—who radiated cold, violent energy—sent chills down her spine and cold sweat down her back.
Without realizing it, she brought a trembling hand to her neck.
Just to reassure herself once more that her insignificant life had not been taken by that fearsome being.
“My lady? Are you truly all right? You look like your soul has left your body.”
When Sorae gently touched her arm, Yeongwon flinched hard and recoiled instinctively.
“My lady?”
Realizing her overreaction, Yeongwon finally answered with a shaky voice.
“I’m fine. I just… I don’t know if I was bewitched, or dreaming… but I saw a ghost.”
Her voice trailed off. Then she shook her head lightly.
“No. I definitely saw one. In that fog.”
“A ghost…?”
“Do you believe me?”
Sorae looked at Yeongwon’s pale face, then nodded seriously.
“If my lady says you saw it, then you saw it. I believe you. So you ran all the way here because those ghosts frightened you… is that right?”
Yeongwon pursed her lips and bobbed her chin slightly.
Every sense in her trembling body screamed that it hadn’t been a dream, nor mere hallucination.
“My lady, don’t worry! Even if it’s a ghost or whatever it is, I’ll protect you!”
“You’re not afraid of ghosts?”
At that question, Sorae gulped.
“I… have never seen one before, so I’m not sure. But no matter how scary they are, I’ll protect my lady.”
Sorae’s earnest determination soothed Yeongwon’s pounding heart—if only a little.
“…All right. Thank you. That gives me courage. But if something like this ever happens again, perhaps the best thing is to pretend to faint until they go away.”
She spoke with a calmer expression. Sorae nodded seriously.
“But my lady, what will you do now?”
“Hm?”
“Are we still going to Jejado? If what you said is true, then this mountain… really has ghosts, doesn’t it? This place is already called Ghost Gate Mountain—we were worried about it even before this. Can we even reach Jejado safely?”
Sorae asked carefully, seeing that Yeongwon still looked shaken.
Yeongwon didn’t answer. Instead, she stared into the dark forest, heart stirring uneasily.
She had been foolish.
When they first began climbing at dawn, she thought that as long as she had a map, she would reach Jejado easily.
But mountains were always dangerous—whether because of the terrain, wild beasts, or simply the unknown.
And this mountain, Jeokbyeok Mountain, was known as Ghost Gate Mountain because no one who entered had ever returned alive.
A map wouldn’t magically reveal the way to Jejado—and between here and there lay countless dangers that could kill them at any moment.
Like how she almost died barely an hour ago when she encountered the grim reaper.
Even if they reached Jejado safely, would things truly unfold as she planned?
Just like this mountain journey, that too might not be so simple.
As Yeongwon reflected on all of this, her heart grew unbearably heavy.
But only for a moment.
Death was a possibility. But even so—she could not turn back.
The memory of her father’s severed head hung on a pole, and her mother’s body never even found—those memories hurt more than death.
The grief, rage, and injustice she could not swallow burned hot inside her chest, inflating her lungs until they felt ready to burst.
“No matter what happens, I must reach Jejado. I will go.”
What terrified her more than dying was failing to clear her parents’ unjust deaths.
What frightened her more than the grim reaper was the thought of not avenging them.
Yeongwon forced down the wildfire burning in her heart.
Then she reached inside her inner garment and took out a half-piece of a black jade pendant.
“My lady, isn’t that the jade token Master told you to take to the Geom family on Jejado?”
“Yes.”
Yeongwon looked at the dark jade resting in her palm.
It wasn’t whole, but even half of it was beyond price.
Because the jade it was carved from—Hanok jade—was known to react to body heat, and among them the rare black variant was far more valuable.
The only flaw was the design.
Cloud and smoke patterns carved along the edge, and at the center, a grotesque goblin with sharp fangs—etched with incredible precision.
“When we reach Jejado, what are you planning to do? Last time I asked, you said you would tell me once we were there.”
Yeongwon stroked the jade token and finally spoke.
“This jade is the Geom family’s heirloom. Father received it as a token of gratitude after helping the head of the Geom clan by chance. In other words, they owe Father.”
Since she was young, her father had taught her that business was unpredictable. If anything ever happened, she must take this jade token and seek out the Geom clan of Jejado.
He must have believed they were capable of protecting her—no matter what happened.
“I plan to return their heirloom to them and make a request.”
“A request? What kind?”
“Father once managed one of the Geom clan’s inns. I intend to ask them to entrust that business to me.”
Sorae’s eyes widened.
“My lady… you intend to ask for the business? Will that… work? Even if your father helped them back then…”
“The business belonged to the Geom clan, but Father managed it, and every year eight-tenths of the profits were sent to Hamcheong. Father kept only two-tenths. And he did that for fifteen years. But now that he is gone…”
Yeongwon fell silent, throat tightening at the thought of her father.
After steadying her grief, she continued:
“The Geom clan will need someone to continue running it. And who is more suited than Father’s own daughter?”
Sorae had many thoughts she didn’t dare voice:
But my lady, you are not your father…
Do you even know how much a bowl of soup costs in the marketplace?
You’ve never done business before—will it really work?
